Saint Leo, Fla. (March 2, 2008) – The Saint Leo University baseball (13-6) swept visiting Merrimack College (0-4) afternoon at Southard Stadium. The Lions posted their second straight shutout with a 14-0 win in game one and then pushed their winning streak to three with a 7-3 win in the seven-inning second game.

Saint Leo senior Yunior Tabares (Tampa, Fla.) went a combined 3-for-7 with six RBI, two doubles a home run and four runs scored on the afternoon. Bobby Munoz (Jr., Tampa, Fla.) was also a combined 3-for-6 with three RBI and two runs, while Jonathan Duncan (Jr., Starke, Fla.) was also 3-for-6 and hit safely in both contests to stretch his hitting streak to 13 games.

The Lions got off to a fast start in game one, catcher Braulio Pardo (Jr., Land O’Lakes, Fla.) connected on a double to left center to score Munoz. The hit stretched Pardo’s hitting streak to 11 games, and the Lions added one more run in the inning when Tabares scored on a wild pitch.

Saint Leo added to its lead with four runs in the fifth, highlighted by a three-run double from Tabares. Saint Leo added a run in the fifth, three in the sixth and rounded out the win with another four-run inning in the eighth. T.J. Alonzo (Jr., Tampa, Fla.) rounded out the scoring in the contest with his team-leading 11th home run of the season, which was a three-run shot over the right field fence.

Saint Leo starter Carter Clements (Sr., Eustis, Fla.) was the game one winner, as he threw 7.0 innings of shutout ball and allowed just five hits while striking out seven to improve to 3-1 on the season. Reliever Stephen Daneman (Fr., Tampa, Fla.) allowed just one hit in relief, as he tossed the final 2.0 innings to preserve the shutout.

In game two, Saint Leo got a single run in the first to open the scoring. The Lions made it 5-0 in the second with Duncan starting things off with a leadoff triple. Dale Slimick (Jr., Sarasota, Fla.) followed with an RBI double with Eddie San Roman (So., Miami, Fla.) and Munoz adding RBI singles before Tabares drew a bases loaded walk to push the fourth run of the inning across the plate.

The lead was all Saint Leo starter Reid Tilson (Jr., Brandon, Fla.) would need, as he improved to 3-1 with the win. Tilson threw 6.0 innings and allowed just one earned run. Ryan Arena (Fr., Tampa, Fla.) worked the final inning in relief.

The Lions will host the College of Saint Rose on Tuesday in another non-conference game at 7:00 p.m.